Coping
by Mourningdawns
Summary: When the unexpected happens, will Mary and Marshall be able to cope? Adult themes. Two-shot. Complete.
1. Chapter 1

I own nothing.

_They always say that you should expect the unexpected. But that makes the unexpected expected. And while you are sitting around, trying to figure out what you should and should not expect, something happens that you didn't, well, expect. Today was one of those days…_

Mary Shannon glanced up from her paperwork when she noticed her partner moving.

"Where are you going?" She inquired as he stood and smoothed his shirt and checked his watch for the time.

"Checking on one of my witnesses." Mary nodded

"Hold on a sec, I need to get some stuff for one of mine. Which one is it? I'll drop you off." Marshall sighed.

"Your favorite." He shoved his hands in his pockets as he watched Mary close everything on her computer and put on her jacket

"Ugh" She looked at him, wrinkling her nose "That one?"

"Yup" Marshall answered simply "The one and only Lesley Peters."

"Good thing she's the only one." Mary muttered under her breathe. Marshall smiled as he followed her to her car.

"You're just jealous" He teased playfully.

"Of that little slut? Ha! No way!" Marshall sighed, as if she had disappointed him.

"She isn't really that bad."

"She's always hitting on you. It's sickening

"I told you, she's not that bad." Marshall's lips twitched into a smile, earning himself and solid hit from Mary.

"You are such a pig!" She scowled. He laughed and rolled his eyes as he ducked into the front seat of her car

As they backed out, Mary began to talk.

"I'll drop you off and then run to the convenient store and pick up some stuff for my witness. Then I'll take it back to her place and come pick you up. Should only take 45 minutes at the most. Just long enough for you to do your inspectorly duties and not end up getting laid by that slut."

_It's funny how we say things that we think would never happen and never even think about the possible likelihood of them happening. Even when we know it could happen. And it happens to be that this happens a lot…_

**One Hour Later…**

"Hey Marshall, so how was the infamous slut?" Marshall didn't respond, only leaning his head back against the headrest.

"Hey, Earth to Marshall." Still her partner remained strangely quiet. She looked in him in the rear view mirror as she changed lanes.

"Marshall?" He looked at her confusedly, his face flushed and moist with sweat. She could see him trembling.

"Marshall, what's going on?"

"I…I don' remember." Mary pulled the car into a parking lot and turned to look at Marshall closely. His eyes fluttered shut.

"Marshall. Wake up!" The trembling that Mary had noticed originally had become even more noticeable. He groaned and leaned forward, holding his head in hid hands.

"Marshall…Marshall what's wrong?" She opened her door and ran around the front of the car, opening his door. He turned his head and threw up. She jumped back, avoiding the splatter.

"Marshall?! What the hell is wrong with you?" He looked up at her, his hair matted to his forehead.

"I…I'm…not"

"Not what?" She demanded, trying to hide the fear in her voice.

"Not…sure" He mumbled as his dull blue eyes rolled back in his head.

_Of all fears, the fear of the unknown is the greatest. It is the scariest. The most utterly terrifying. Some places more than others are filled with this fear. Hospitals are the worse. The unknowns there could be nothing, or they could be fatal. They could have minimal impact or be life changing. But you don't know which one…_

After four long, terrifying hours in he hospital waiting room, a nurse stepped out and over the noise called

"Who is here for Marshall Mann?" Mary felt her heart begin to pump faster.

"I am" Her voice shook slightly, surprising herself. She walked over "What happened?" She asked in a hushed voice. The nurse bit her lip, brushing a strand of wavy brown hair away from her face.

"I can't tell you, since you're not family bu-"

"I'm his emergency contact. I'm all he's got." Mary might have stretched the truth a little, but she was desperate for information. She also wasn't in the best mood. Glancing at the clock on the wall she noted that it was 9 at night. She sighed and ignored the pains of hunger in her stomach. The young nurse bit her lip.

"I'm really sorry ma-am-"

"Mary" The nurse nodded and continued.

"I understand how you must feel, Mary. I think the doctors plan on releasing him, but they need to talk to you." Mary shrugged

"OK. Fine." The nervous nurse led Mary out of the waiting room and down a long hall to the office of Dr. R. Carrison.

"Have a seat please; Dr. Carrison will be with you in a moment." Mary nodded numbly. What had Marshall gotten himself into? She remembered the sight of his eyes rolling, lids closing until only the whites were visible. She shuddered at the thought.

After a few minutes a woman about Mary's age walked in. She was dressed professionally, her chin length brown hair pinned back out of her face.

"Hello. I'm Rhonda Carrison. You must be Mary Shannon." Mary nodded and shook the hand that Dr. Carrison had offered.

"You must be so worried. I apologize for the wait." She sat down across from Mary.

"How much have you been told of Mr. Mann's condition?"

"Nothing." The doctor nodded thoughtfully biting her lip as she carefully put the words together in her head.

"Well, it appears that Mr. Mann was drugged, most likely with GHB, but we will not know for sure until the tests come back." Mary's mouth fell open and then she remembered to speak.

"GHB that's a-"

"Date-rape drug, yes. I think you can see what happened." Mary closed her eyes. _'Oh God,'_ She thought _'Poor Marshall'._ The doctor continued. "We need to know who he was with before you brought him here."

"He was visiting a friend, um, Lesley Peters. Here" Mary wrote down her address and contact information. Dr. Carrison nodded.

"Thank you…Ms. Shannon?...We need a sample of DNA from you. Just in case." Mary's eyes widened.

"You think I raped Marshall?!" Dr. Carrison closed her eyes for a brief moment.

"No we don't, on the principle that you brought him here and that is atypical behavior for a rapist." Mary sighed. "And also your eyes." Mary gave the doctor a questioning look. "After a while, you can tell which ones are lying and which aren't" Mary nodded.

"We're both in law enforcement; we have to do that a lot." Dr. Carrison nodded

"So you understand the reasoning behind taking a DNA sample." Mary nodded. She understood, but it still hurt.

But what hurt worse was seeing Marshall, hair still wet from the shower he had just taken, dressed in scrubs and wearing surgical booties. His clothes were considered evidence. Everything had been sent to the Albuquerque Police Department. He looked drowsy still. The doctor talked warning the two of them about possible nightmares and effects of the drug. But she didn't listen. She could only stare at her partner, unable to pull her eyes away from his vulnerability.


	2. Chapter 2

12 Hours Later…

**12 Hours Later…**

Mary opened her eyes, awoken by an info-mercial that played on the TV. She groaned, rubbing her eyes. She didn't recall when she had fallen asleep, but glancing at the clock on the TV she realized it was 9:30. She pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and called Stan, who had picked Marshall up and stayed with him over night

"Stan"

"Hey…How'd last night go?" Mary heard Stan sigh into the phone.

"Hold on." He muttered. "Marshall, I'm going to step outside and grab the paper." Mary heard Marshall respond but she couldn't make out the words. After a moment Stan drew a deep breath and began his run-down.

"He got home and took a shower-"

"Another shower? Didn't he take one at the hospital?"

"Yeah… I don't know. Anyway, after that we watched the news-"

"Wait. Marshall suffers a traumatizing event and you watch the news? Good god."

"Are you going to let me finish?" Stan quipped, his patience already worn thin.

"Yeah sorry." Mary mumbled.

"After that he fell asleep."

"And judging by the town of your voice, it didn't end there."

"Exactly. He had a couple of nightmares and woke me up."

"Oh…" Mary breathed in the phone "Poor Marshall…" It was the first time she may have ever said that comment and actually been sincere. Stan sighed again, clearly tired after his long night.

"Are you coming over? I'm not going to be able to miss work today. And there's no way he's coming in."  
"Can't he stay by himself." Mary asked, wondering why Stan felt her partner needed a babysitter.

"He doesn't want to be alone."

"Oh…Then yeah, I'll be there in a few."

_Over their lifetime, people develop unique was of coping. Some people seek out the comfort of others. Some simply cry. Others talk about it to a close friend. But some people, who weren't capable of developing a coping device that was beneficial for them, sink into themselves. These types of people usually go into law enforcement…_

"Hey Marshall." Mary greeted, sitting down on the couch next to her partner. Marshall hardly looked up at her. "How ya doin'?" She asked, trying to keep up her cheery façade. Marshall shrugged. Mary looked at him, biting at her lip.

"Do you want to talk about it?" She asked. Marshall glanced at her, and she caught a glimpse of dull blue eyes.

"I don't really remember anything." His voice was flat, lacking his normal sarcasm.

"What do you remember?" Marshall squinted as he tried to recall.

"You dropped me off. I went in. She was making lunch…or dinner…She gave me a drink.-"

"You took a drink? From her?" Mary's eyes widened. 'Marshall should have known better' she thought, but managed to keep her mouth closed.

"No." He sighed, his eyes closing. He sounded tired. Mary studued him and noticed dark smudgeds under his eyes, reinforcing Stan's description of a restless night.

"It was soda, in the can. Then she had trouble opening the pickle jar-"

"That's a little cliché don't you think?" He shrugged.

"I couldn't open it at first either, so I ran it under hot water. I guess that's when she drugged my drink." His voice became very hushed. She squeezed his knee, feeling a pang in her chest when he subconsciously pulled away. "I should have known better. I shouldn't've –"

"Hey." Mary interrupted gently. "Don't beat yourself up. That's my job." She gave him a small smile and it fell when he closed his eyes and leaned away.

"Sorry. I'm just-"She interrupted again.

"You don't need to apologize, bud. I understand." He nodded slightly.

"Thanks." He mumbled. She reached out and took his hand in hers.

"What are the nightmares about?" She asked as gently as she could. Marshall shrugged.

"I don't really know." She gnawed at her lower lip. She couldn't believe how vulnerable Marshall seemed. He hadn't looked her in the eyes since she got there. He was dressed in a pair of sweats and a hoody.

After an awkward moment of silence, something neither of usually allow, Marshall pulled a pillow to his chest, wrapping his arms around it and resting his chin on the top. Mary felt her eyes begin to tear up. She wiped her eyes but the tears continued to return, like a bad door-to-door salesman. Marshall wasn't supposed to be vulnerable. He was her protector, even if she would never admit it. Marshall glanced at her, noting the tears but then looked away before he spoke.

"I'm Ok."

"No." She shook her head and brushed away more tears. "This is not ok, Marshall." He nodded. She closed her eyes, trying to regain control of herself. When she opened her eyes she looked at her best friend, his eyes shut, a single tear halfway down his cheek. Her own tears began to fall again, creating rivers flowing down her face. She fought to hide a sob but it escaped despite her efforts. He looked up quickly.

"What's wrong?" He asked numbly. She shook her head and hugged him. His eyes widened and he held her close, discovering the feeling of safety that this close proximity brought to him. He buried his face in her shoulder, her hair clinging to tears on his cheeks. He inhaled softly, finding her scent oddly comforting.

After a few minutes Mary managed to stop her own tears, only to discover that Marshall had drifted into a fitful sleep. She smiled at him, drying his face with the sleeve of her shirt. He tried to push her hand away, causing her to smile.

_Humans are amazing creatures. The things they can live with are unbelievable. But what is more amazing is that the things we have to live with are still around. If we were making any progress as a society, we should be able to stop these things. If we are such an enlightened species, shouldn't we have some sort of personal limit that prevents us from hurting each other so?_

**2 Weeks Later…**

"Hey, hey look who's back." Mary said, smiling as Marshall walked into the WitSec office. He smiled at her slightly; his eyes brighter then they had been since that fateful day. She stood and hugged him.

"Don't scare me like that again, or I will shoot you" She muttered into his chest, only partially in jest.

"I'll try."

"You better do better than try." He smiled again and chucked softly. She pulled away from the hug, surveying him.

Stan walked out of his office.

"Marshall! Good to have you back." He walked over and shook Marshall's hand and then gave him a one armed hug. "She's been unbearable lately" Stan said quietly, so that only Marshall would hear.

"Yeah…I assumed she would be" He replied at matching volume. Stan smiled.

"I think she missed you." Marshall smiled a little, also. Mary looked up

"I will not miss covering some of your witnesses though. You need to go check on Ol' Miss Mercer" Marshall stiffened slightly and Stan gave Mary a warning glance. She felt her face flush.

"C'mon, I'll go with you." Marshall nodded.

"Thanks"

When they exited Ms. Mercer's house, Mary looked at Marshall.

"You ok?"

"What? Oh yeah" His cheeks were flushed pink slightly. She looked around and, after making sure that they were alone, she hugged Marshall protectively.

"You're amazing, Marshall." He hugged her back, feeling himself begin to relax, and smiling contentedly at what she had said. He was pretty sure he would only hear it once.

_It is said that we are all angels with only one wing, and that to fly we must embrace one another. In my time with witness protection I've discovered that embracing those whom you care about is a necessity if you wish to move on. To cope. _


End file.
